120-year-old Jubilee Library turns dumping yard
BARIPADA: One of the oldest heritage buildings of the State, the 120-year-old Sriram Chandra Library, popularly known as Jubilee Library, in the heart of Baripada town, has turned into a dumping yard owing to lack of maintenance.
The building premises and the garden surrounding it present a clear picture of neglect of the British-era building. Though the building stands tall in the middle of the town, it remains a picture of apathy. A few private educational institutions and social organisations conduct programmes at the building’s veranda free of cost. What’s worse is that the library is used by people, especially those residing in Lalbazar ward, for garbage disposal.
The library, which has developed cracks, has more than 200 members but only 10 to 20 visit it due its dilapidated condition. Large volumes of Vedas donated by the then King of Baripada in 1932-33 are covered in a thick layer of dust. Former secretary of the library Dinakrushna Mohanty said several books in the facility are yet to be entered in the stock register while 30-40 per cent of books have been catalogued as a result of which readers are deprived of them. Some residents of the town feel that the municipality must conduct a cleanliness drive around the heritage building as it is public property and funds should be allocated by PWD for its renovation.
“The heritage building has become an example of apathy and needs immediate attention of the district administration, municipality and State Government”, said Bibhudatta Das, a resident.Meanwhile, district culture officer Tanuja Sirka said the then Collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil had allocated more than `9 lakh under Integrated Action Plan for purchase of articles needed for preservation of books in the library in 2014-15. “However, the members of the library did not meet the Collector to discuss the issues”, he added. Working secretary of the library Basanta Mohanta said the library receives books and journals from Sriram Chandra Bhanja Foundation, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Library and the State Culture department free of cost. However, owing to lack of space and adequate space, the readers have been deprived of such valuable books, he said.